I picked up the April edition of Johns Hopkins Magazine the
day it arrived in the mail, planning to glance through it
for interesting articles before throwing it into the
recycling bin (sorry). I ended up reading the magazine from
cover to cover. Every article in it was informative,
well-written, and unbiased. I was especially inspired by
"Shock Treatment,"
the article about trauma surgeon Dr. Eddie Cornwell. After
reading it, I passed it on to my husband to read and plan
to share the article with other friends and family.

Your magazine sheds light on the harsh realities of issues
such as medicine, natural disasters, public policy, and
politics. But you also offer hope and provide opportunities
to get involved and make a difference. I commend you for
producing such an excellent journal. And I'll never again
pick up this magazine with the intention of scanning it
just before tossing it out with the milk jugs and aluminum
cans.

The memory of my good friend and classmate Robert Wilson
'43 needs a bit of tweaking — as does mine, so
frequently.

His
letter [April] kindled many fond memories. However, he
was off the mark in one regard. He spoke of ROTC leading to
an "appointment as an officer in the U.S. Army." Normally
this was true. Our class, though, was the first wartime
class required to attend class throughout the summer of
1942, eliminating the previously required attendance at
ROTC summer camp, six weeks in duration. As a result, we
did not get our gold bar on the commencement platform in
February '43; instead, the four years of ROTC training
qualified us to select the officer candidate school of any
branch of service, which we then attended for 13 weeks in
order to earn that gold bar. I quickly learned what a
blessing that was: Four years of college-level ROTC would
have left me ill-prepared to lead an infantry platoon in
combat.

Bob, you'd be surprised how many of us from the Class of
February '43 are still alive and kicking!